World War I started a huge change in warfare. The war was fought differently than other wars from the hand to hand combat to a new age of weaponry. There were several causes for World War I; mutual defense alliances, nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. The United States didn’t join World War I until 1917. At the end of World War I, there were a high number of casualties and injured soldiers. World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the treaty of Versailles.
The fallout from the war had political and social importance, some positive some negative. One of the positive effects was that the United States of America military proves to be a strong fighting force and economic power began to shift from other nations to the United States. The outcome of the war caused American politicians to withdraw from the world and return to a policy of isolationism. This isolation had an impact on America’s growth. There was a collapse of central and eastern European countries where nationalism transformed and complicated Europe with socialism. Germany had great resentment at the end of World War I due to the treaty of Versailles and the lack of support from the mother country. These events trigger a deep bitterness within Adolf Hitler, which unleashed a madman to high power and destruction.
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Towards the end of the war, Adolf Hitler was temporarily blinded by mustard gas and was hospitalized. During his time of healing, news came that the war was coming to an end, which struck him to the core of his being. Prior to the war, Hitler had nothing to lose, he was an unknown artist. Hitler was unsuccessful in getting accepted into a school of the Arts. 'When I presented myself to the rector, requesting an explanation for my non-acceptance at the Academy's school of painting, that gentleman assured me that the drawings I had submitted incontrovertibly showed my unfitness for painting and that my ability obviously lay in the field of architecture; for me, he said, the Academy's school of painting was out of the question, the place for me was the School of Architecture. It was incomprehensible to him that I had never attended an architectural school or received any other training in architecture.' Hitler was unsuccessful in getting accepted into a school of the Arts. He had minimal education; he was a dropout. Hitler lived a lonely and solitary life, earning an uncertain livelihood by painting postcards and advertisements while drifting from one hostel to another. There was a deep loathing in Hitler that would grow over time. A few of these detested items of Hitler’s was known as The Nazi Degenerate Art Exhibition, the annihilation of the Jewish religion and its people, and any person that was considered. “He believed the German Army had not been defeated on the field of battle but betrayed, “stabbed in the back” by a gang of Communist traitors led by Jews.” This was the beginning of the end for Hitler.
Hitler’s rise to power began when he started life in political work in Munich in the summer of 1919. Hitler was an army political agent; he also joined the small German Workers’ Party in Munich in the fall of 1919. In 1920 Hitler was put in charge of the party’s literature and information. He found a new purpose and was discharged from the army in the spring of 1920. Hitler applied himself to improving his position within the party. This party was known as the National-Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. There was much bitterness at the end of the war and the harshness of the peace terms added to the economic problems and brought widespread dissatisfaction.
Munich was a gathering place for the unhappy veterans, that were unwilling to return to civilian life and members of the Freikorps. Hitler started to rise within the German Workers’ Party with the help of Ernst Rohm. Hitler was recognized as a good communicator. They began to organize in 1918–1919, for radical conspirators against the republic, which was known as the Nazi Party. Due to the unhappy Germans, Hitler took advantage of the situation and this new small party started to grow. During Hitler’s rise in this party, there were conflicts with Hitler’s hidden agenda and different opinions with other leaders of the party that caused issues. In the summer of 1921, Adolf Hitler overcame these differences and became the leader of the Nazi Party.
With the growth of the Nazi Party in Bavaria, they wanted to grasp power in Munich, Beer Hall Putsch during November 1923. Hitler and General Erich Ludendorff tried to take advantage of the widespread disorder and opposition to the Weimar Republic, to force the leaders of the Bavarian government and the local army commander to declare a national revolution. These actions to overthrow the Weimar Republic caused chaos, which resulted in a hostile takeover. The police were summoned and fighting broke out. 'At any rate, a shot was fired and in the next instant a volley of shots rang out from both sides, spelling in that instant the doom of Hitler's hopes. Scheibner-Richter fell, mortally wounded. Goering went down with a serious wound in his thigh. Within sixty seconds the firing stopped, but the street was already littered with fallen bodies - sixteen Nazis and three police dead or dying, many more wounded and the rest, including Hitler, clutching the pavement to save their lives.' Hitler was then arrested and imprisoned for treason. Hitler only served nine months of a five-year sentence, at the castle Landsberg. While Hitler was in prison, he wrote his first volume of Mein Kampf – My Struggles and his countless ideas of how he thought the world should be which included a master race. Hitler was treated well and had many privileges. He was able to wear his own clothes, receive gifts, and have visitors.
Hitler, then wrote the second volume of Mein Kampf after he was released from prison. In this volume, Hitler discussed his ideas of a race-based nationalist. The second issue was not released to the public until 1939. Hitler had many challenges after his release from prison. A currency reform stabilized the economy and the Dawes Plan had scaled back Germany’s World War I payments. The republic was more reputable. Hitler was banned from making public or political speeches. The party was slow to grow until Hitler successfully re-established his position within the party in 1926. Hitler established a personal bodyguard, the Schutzstaffel or SS. Hitler focused on legalizing the Nazi party and becoming the leader. He worked to have the ban lifted against him regarding his political activity, which included public speaking, which was lifted in 1928. Hitler’s goals were to reorganize the paramilitary units. Hitler wanted to ensure loyalty to himself and the Nazi district leader, so he reorganize the chain of command of the different party branches.
Hitler comes up with a new political strategy for the Nazi party. The old principles that the Nazi follow were non-partaking in national and local elections, a partnership with conservative right politicians and non-Nazi military formations, and the overthrow of the Weimar Republic by force. The new strategy was completely the opposite. They were now to engage in electoral politics, a total reduction of the paramilitary formations to political leadership, new programs targeting new and old voters with complaints of what the political parties were lacking to address, overcoming old-style political, regional, religious, social, and class division in German society. The Nazi party and Hitler used language to bring hope and show fear to the German people. Hitler’s goal was to publicize a future of national renewal by restoring Germany’s strength and economy, annihilating communism, and overturning the Versailles treaty. He wanted to eliminate Jewish and foreign influences, that seemed to undermine German society.
In 1928, the parliamentary elections are where the Nazis first tested the progress of their new strategy. They were unsuccessful in the election even with using violent intimidation. The beginning of the Depression in 1929, led to a new period of political instability for Germany. In 1930, Hitler had made an agreement with the Nationalist Alfred Hugenberg in a campaign against the Young Plan. Hitler reached a nationwide audience with the aid of Hugenberg’s newspapers. This new alliance also allowed Hitler to seek support from wealthy influences of business and industry. These men controlled political funds and were eager to establish a strong right-wing, antisocialist government. Hitler, securing financial stability, helped him make progress with the lower class and the unemployed, promising Germany will rise to the top once again. Hitler created a national party that included votes from all walks of life.
During the depression, the German government fails to improve conditions for the people, which aided in the Nazi Party gaining electoral power in the 1930 election. When the Weimar Coalition government collapsed, the three non-socialist partners in the coalition voiced their opinions regarding their own political agendas. They convinced President Hindenburg to call an emergency national parliamentary election by invoking Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The Nazi party entered the campaign actively and eagerly, recognizing this was a huge opportunity to win more the German people over with new ideas. The Nazis planned to reach their constituents by using modern technology, radio, and large rallies. Hitler took the skies in a hired plane, American-style, in his first “Germany flight” – Deutschlandflug, embellished with the slogan of ‘the Fuhrer over Germany”. Hitler’s campaign promotes his ideals of a better tomorrow for the German people. In the 1930 election, the Nazi party won over eighteen percent of the votes. Hitler was known as an excellent speaker. He was able to capture the people's interests, which were the alienated, unemployed, and young voters.
Hitler’s personal life had become more relaxed and stable with political success. Hitler’s income came from party funds and from his writing for nationalist newspapers. He had an irregular working schedule, generally rising late in the day, and staying up late at night working. Hitler’s half-sister, Angela Raubal, and his two nieces join him in Berchtesgaden in 1929. Hitler became very affectionate to his one niece Geli. Hitler felt that a young girl was impressionable, making it possible for a man to bend the girl to his own liking. The young seventeen-year-old, Geli, could not escape the attention and they became involved. Over time the couple missed placed trust for one another, and a rift occurred between them. He became overly possessive and jealous of Geli. Hitler was known to have unique sexual tastes and even his sexual orientation was questioned. Their problems drove her to suicide in September 1931. Hitler was inconsolable for a short period of time over his loss. After Hitler’s mourning of Geli, Hitler started a relationship with a young lady, Eva Braun. Eva was a shop assistant from Munich, and she became his mistress. Unlike Geli who went most places with Hitler, rarely allowed Eva to be seen in public with him. Hitler did not consider marriage at this point in his life, because he was focused on his career.
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